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TMD aka TMJ disorder

On top of all my other health issues as of late, see my other posts if you want, I seem to have developed TMD. Has anyone gone through this? any treatments that actually work? I have been through some painful stuff over the years, broke part of my neck even, but this bloody hurts. Half my face is either numb, or just aching, can't eat, barely talk, ears feel really awful, massive headaches etc.

Yep. I had to have a wisdom and upper molar tooth removed and I had issues with the healing (Good reason NOT to smoke BTW!). I was chewing in a funny way and developed an issue with my jaw for a while. Not agonizing but I had frequent headaches, stiff jaw, etc... I had to keep reminding myself to relax my jaw because I was making it worse by clamping my jaw tightly at night. It did go away eventually by focusing on relaxing and Ibuprofen.

Have you had any dental work done recently or do you suffer from Bruxism (Clenching jaw) or teeth grinding?

No dental work lately, but about a year ago I had a tooth filling redone on the same side. I feel that its too high, causing my bite to differ. I'm getting my wisdom teeth taken out on that side so I'll get that issue fixed too.

TMJ for 30 years since I was 19. Sucks. Worse in winter when the jaw muscles are cold. At best it is annoying, at worst you constantly shift your jaw trying to unconsciously make it feel better. Doctor said my lower jaw is too small or some thing like that.

I had similar thing in late 30's from clenching teeth so much. Like you mentioned, I had an offset bite due to dental work (right molars higher than left). Actually still have the top right molar in back that was primary contact point, it has micro fractures but doesn't bother me now. My solution was orthodontics. Braces for 2.5 years straightened everything and perfectly leveled my bite. Haven't had a problem with clenching or any other jaw related issues. Was weird being 39 in office with a bunch of t'weens getting my braces adjusted though.... don't really miss that part at all. Funniest thing was when they put them on. They gave me a little "starter package" bag with dental floss, the little plastic hook things to feed floss between braces, and a little bottle of mouthwash - bubblegum flavored! I told them I have mouthwash and really don't need that particular flavor. They insisted I take the package, and proceeded to search trough a few dozen of these bags to find one with cinnamon flavored mouthwash.

Sorry to ramble, the point of all this is - the uneven bite can cause a lot of these types of issues. Getting your bite level should help greatly.

The temporomandibular joint is the most complicated joint in the body. No other joint moves the way it does. It not only rotates, but it also translates. That is, as you open really wide, the joint actually dislocates. There is an articulating disc between the condyle on the jaw and the fossa on the base of the skull that keeps bone from grinding on bone. It has muscles attached to it to move it in concert with the condyle as it translates down the plane of the fossa. It is a well choreographed dance.

LOTS of things mess up the dance. An uneven bite. Muscles not synchronized. Loss of vertical dimension due to worn teeth or dentures. Too much vertical dimension due to high crowns, fillings or dentures. Deterioration of the articulating disc. Muscle spasms. Injury. Inflammation. There are lots more problems, but you get the drift.

The solutions are as varied as the causes. I'm not going to give any here because of legal reasons. My suggestion is to talk with a general dentist who has lots of experience treating this AND and an oral surgeon who has experience too.

Thbbbbbt...
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Ah, yes, my old friend: TMJ. What worked for me to relieve pain was ultrasound treatment in the orthodontist's office. i also had to put these flat u-shaped pieces of plastic in my mouth to keep my jaws separated so that the TM joint expanded. Then, i had braces to move my teeth around because I no longer had a proper bite after the joint was stretched. Totally worth it in the long run. good luck, man!

The temporomandibular joint is the most complicated joint in the body. No other joint moves the way it does. It not only rotates, but it also translates. That is, as you open really wide, the joint actually dislocates. There is an articulating disc between the condyle on the jaw and the fossa on the base of the skull that keeps bone from grinding on bone. It has muscles attached to it to move it in concert with the condyle as it translates down the plane of the fossa. It is a well choreographed dance.

LOTS of things mess up the dance. An uneven bite. Muscles not synchronized. Loss of vertical dimension due to worn teeth or dentures. Too much vertical dimension due to high crowns, fillings or dentures. Deterioration of the articulating disc. Muscle spasms. Injury. Inflammation. There are lots more problems, but you get the drift.

The solutions are as varied as the causes. I'm not going to give any here because of legal reasons. My suggestion is to talk with a general dentist who has lots of experience treating this AND and an oral surgeon who has experience too.

+1, best thing you can do is see a dentist and have a full work up done. Do mention the high filling.

Ruger, are you a dentist?

-I'm no expert, but it seems to work and I haven't electrocuted myself yet. Which is pretty much the standard I live by.